LONDON: A British-Pakistani family with three young children was subjected to shocking racist abuse, threats and physical assault during a train journey from London Euston to Bletchley – with the family still waiting for any major progress with the crime investigation nearly three months after the incident, according to evidence seen by Geo News.
Areeba Hanif, a communications professional, was travelling with her husband Omer Tariq and their three children, aged nine, seven and five, at around 10pm on 11 July after the family boarded a train from London Euston to Bletchley following a day out in the capital.
Areeba said the confrontation began after her husband approached two young women in the carriage and politely asked them to stop swearing because young children were sitting nearby. One of the women immediately responded with racist abuse, footage shows.
“Who are you to come to England and tell me how to talk? Go back to where you came from.” The woman kept repeating, “I’ll bang you up, and then I’ll bang your kids up once we are at the station.”
One of the women, known as “Chloe”, repeatedly used the highly offensive anti-Pakistani racial slur and hurled abuses despite Hanif being British and considering London her home.
The mother told Geo News her three children were terrified by what was happening.
Fearing for the family’s safety and believing she needed evidence of the racial abuse, Hanif began recording the confrontation on her mobile phone. “Go back,” said Chloe to Areeba when she reached the scene to help her husband.
The video available with Geo News shows Chloe then threw a drink at her, continued shouting racist and abusive language and charged towards her as she filmed.
The woman raised her hand as though she was going to punch her before attempting to grab her phone. Areeba said she raised her hand to protect herself while her husband also attempted to prevent the woman from attacking them. Footage shows Areeba was struck and that her phone was knocked from her hand.
Areeba claimed that a male passenger who appeared to intervene in support of the family was subjected to racialised abuse for helping them.
She was later told that the same woman had attacked him and a 19-year-old passenger, who allegedly suffered marks and bruising for supporting immigrants and “what’s happened to the people of this country?”
Police subsequently attended the train at a station and spoke to the British Pakistani family. Hanif said statements were not taken in full at the scene and that, for various reasons, she did not hear from police again until approximately a week later.
She said she was subsequently informed that the woman had been taken in for questioning.
Nearly three months after the incident, the family says it has yet to see any substantive outcome despite what Hanif describes as clear video evidence documenting racist abuse, threats and alleged violence.
The family is now seeking clarity over the status of the investigation and why the case has not progressed more quickly.
Hanif said the experience was particularly distressing because her children, who were born into a British family and had been enjoying their summer in London, were forced to witness explicit racist abuse directed at their parents and themselves.
The family had returned to London together for the first time in two years and had spent the day visiting the capital, including Primrose Hill, before boarding the train home.
Hanif said the incident fundamentally changed what had otherwise been a memorable family day.
She said the experience had also forced her to confront the persistence of anti-Pakistani racism in modern Britain, questioning how her young children should understand their identity after being told by another passenger that their family did not belong in the country.
The family says it wants the alleged attack investigated fully and appropriate action taken, both over the alleged racial abuse and the threats and violence they say occurred in front of their three young children.
A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesperson told Geo News: “We received a report of a racially aggravated assault on board a London to Milton Keynes service at 10.27pm on 11 July. Officers intercepted the train at Leighton Buzzard railway station and arrested a 23-year-old woman on suspicion of racially aggravated public order and two counts of assault. She was interviewed and released on conditional police bail while enquiries continue.”
The police said the investigation was ongoing and officers are compiling evidence to submit to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision. “Evidence includes CCTV footage, witness videos, and accounts from victims and witnesses – all have been collected and reviewed.”
